The Asus GeForce FX 5900 features an interesting heat sink arrangement that effectively cools the core and RAM, adding to overclocking potential.

Slightly less sturdy than previous Dell models we have seen, the D500 is finished in attractive silver bezel housing, the keyboard is comfortable to use and offers all the functionality of standard-sized desktop keyboards.

Microsoft has four key 'visions' for Pocket PC 2003 (PPC 2003): make it easier for manufacturers to innovate, improve the 'wireless experience', bring easy instant messaging to the PDA, and expand the 'media experience'.

Even though the PowerColor R9800 PRO has the default core clock and memory speeds for the RADEON 9800 PRO, it ended up being the lowest scoring 9800 PRO reviewed.

Each of the FX5600s in our round-up this month struggled to compete with the Labs Winner's results, options and price.

The RADEON 9600 PRO was an interesting chip when it came to the 3DMark2001SE Pro tests. It actually performed better at high resolution than low resolution at default settings.

The Korean-made JNC SSF-70 is very cool, neat and bursting with goodies – it comes with 128MB of MP3 storage plus voice recording plus a built in FM scanning tuner plus a built in auto-charging battery – all in a tiny tube designed to hang ‘round your neck on a special earphone/neck strap combo.

Formerly called Redmond Linux, Lycoris is probably the most Windows-like Linux around.

You would be excused from having the word 'hot' pop into your head when you first set eyes on the Gainward FX 5900.

The first OS to make a serious effort at an easy, integrated Linux to rival Windows was the now defunct Corel LinuxOS.

The RADEON 9600 is a funny beast. Technologically it is quite advanced, although it suffers from slightly limited memory bandwidth.

This rather optimistic time assumes no use of the backlight, but we found half-brightness to offer the best compromise – and even at this setting, the V35's screen impresses.

Another RADEON 9800 PRO-based card, the SmartVGA is designed for hardcore framerate gamers. In performance terms, the SmartVGA is only slightly, albeit consistently, behind the Hercules 9800 PRO.

Another of the RADEON 9200 cards in this round-up. Returning almost identical results to the Auriga 9200, this is an average performer, bundled with an outdated game.

With the same type of easily removable tool-less housing as the ThinkCentre S50 this HP machine can be stripped and rebuilt very quickly, which will appeal to the corporate IT techs and SMEs wishing to avoid lengthy hardware failure downtime.

Missing out on an award by a hair's breadth, MSI blew the other cards away in most departments.

Maya, from Alias (previously known as Alias | Wavefront) has long been a big name in 3D animation, but after receiving an Academy Award, things look set to get even bigger. Now in its fifth incarnation, Maya should be even better than before, so what's new?

One of the top performing cards in our round-up, the Sapphire was also an award contender this month. It was the fastest overall RADEON 9800 PRO card, and gave the GeForce FX 5900 Ultra cards a real run for their money, which is especially impressive as it's $100 cheaper than the Leadtek A350 5900 Ultra.

The Hercules RADEON 9800 PRO managed some very impressive scores in 3DMark2001SE Pro at high and low resolutions, and again in 3DMark03, although it suffered a little at high resolutions.

Auriga's offering to the 9800 PRO market returned rather inconsistent results.